


Lotus

by Eldritch



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-07
Updated: 2008-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-02 15:43:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldritch/pseuds/Eldritch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lenalee Lee, age nine. Contains disturbing imagery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lotus

It is a relief to take off the boots. When she wears them, she can jump very high, until it feels like maybe she is flying. Everyone praises her, telling her what a good job she has done, and that her synchronization rate is very high. She does not know exactly what that means, only that she is glad of it, because she has seen what happens to those whose rates are low.

Birds can fly because they are very light. She thinks she remembers hearing that their bones are hollow. But when she flies, she does not feel light. The boots are heavy, like someone has tied rocks to her ankles. So she likes it when she can take them off, set them neatly by the door, and sit on her bed with bare feet. It would be even better if she could run without the boots, but the last time she tried that, she was scolded. Instead she stretches her legs out and wiggles her toes back and forth. Her feet look large. The doctors say it is because she is growing, and feet often grow first and then wait for the body to catch up.

She knows that she is from a country called China, even though she does not remember much about it, except for her brother's smile and his warm hands. There was a book on China in the library. It was on a high shelf and she needed to get a ladder in order to reach it. The book says that the Chinese think that small feet are beautiful. Because of this, they break little girls' feet and wrap them up so that they will not grow. Even though the book does not like this very much, it is something that she thinks about a lot.

One by one she wiggles her toes again. She bends her right knee and brings her right foot up so that she can take it in her hands and push her toes down. Girls with bound feet cannot run, and she likes running. But their shoes are very small and light. And no one makes them jump.

Her toes are too bendy. No matter how far she presses them forward, they go right back to the way they were. So she picks up her heavy, heavy boots, sits down on the hard floor, and brings the heel down.

When the door bursts open, she has only broken her two smallest toes. Those toes are very small, but they hurt quite a bit. The edge of the heel is sharp and there is blood pooling on the floor under her. They found her because she forgot not to scream. This is too bad, because she knows they will bandage her feet so that the bones heal correctly and everything keeps growing and she will still have to wear the boots.

It is not until she realizes this that she starts to cry.


End file.
